A Small Slice of a Bodacious Pizza
I absolutely love how popular the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are right now, being able to play the collection of old games, wear their skins in Fortnite and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, or even play a rogue-like in their world with a game like Splintered Fate. Interest in the IP has skyrocketed and that means them turtle boys get to stretch their green limbs a bit and invade other genres. It can be scary to step outside of our normal comfort zones if we’re so used to these heroes in a half-shell only occupying beat ‘em ups and fighting games, but Steam Next Fest 2025 has us covered with a demo for TMNT: Tactical Takedown.
As the title implies, developer Strange Scaffold offers fans a different approach to Turtles’ action, as we see them enter the world of turn-based strategies. The single-player adventure will challenge players to take the heroes through a city overrun by the Foot Clan, being heavily outnumbered, but not outmatched. The grid-based combat is engaging, especially for those who want to treat each fight like a puzzle as they embark on what looks to be a new and different adventure for this mutant family.
Big Apple, 3 AM
It’s a brave new world for the Turtles. Master Splinter, the boys’ father figure, and their greatest enemy, Shredder, are both dead, but a new, deadlier threat looms, eager to strike. Life is changing, everyone is getting older and drifting apart, and now a group of ninja have invaded the lair, bringing the war right into their home. With the Turtles spread out over the city, cut off from each other, and their Turtle-comms not working, they’ll have to fight like never before to figure out what the Foot Clan is up to and protect their city.
Alleycat Blues
It’s a bit strange at first, but once I figured out the grid system, movement, and where I needed to click for my abilities, everything fell into place and I started to focus on taking out the hordes of enemies that all wanted me dead. It doesn’t pay to charge in recklessly, but sometimes a little aggression helps, as enemies keep dropping out of the sky each round and players only have so many action points to attack and move themselves to safety. Be clever, use those surroundings, knock the bad guys into each other, and don’t forget to turn on Inspect Mode. There are buffs, assists, and much more to keep up with. Death urged me to try again and the more I learned about the mechanics the better I became at making it through each level.
This game isn’t a walk in Central Park, as the enemies have their own tricks and continuously grow tougher. The environments also ‘mutate,’ ushering players to keep moving as old sections of the map drop off. Getting caught unaware atop these collapsing segments will take a life away, but can also help clear out straggling foes. There are also priority targets that must be killed to move on and environmental hazards, like speeding cars, similar to the older TMNT games, all while a giant GO is flashing to keep us motivated.
Bury My Shell at Wounded Knee
With everything going on, gameplay can be a bit tense, while also feeling rewarding. It can take a little bit to figure out exactly how it all works, but the demo gives us 4 (one for each Turtle) out of the 20 stages to play around with and get a good feel for the whole experience. I love the art style, mostly based on the 1987 cartoon and character cutouts during the reading portions. This game also features some radical stage designs with environments that are meant to look like dioramas. The aesthetics have a nice synergy all around, accompanied by a couple of excellent tracks to listen to.
I didn’t run into any issues, other than a few enemies leaping to their deaths while trying to get to me. I do wish there were a way to go back though, as I mis-clicked a few times and realized too late that I had the wrong ability selected. The demo shows us a few other options and modes that will be available in the full game and it sounds like there will be more customizations and an in-game currency as well. I think it’s fair to say I’m ready to get back in there right now, but we don’t know yet when Tactical Takedown will be released, just that they are shooting for some time this year. When it does, however, I plan on kicking a lot more Foot.
8Bit/Digi is an independent media outlet that provides an insight into the video game community and industry of the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Writing in the dirty South, this recovering internet addict wakes up every morning wrestling with nightmares of Silent Hill, Battletoads, and where to put that third comma.
@StephenWilds
